Mr Peabody & Sherman: The Search for Atlantis: The Lost Empire
by movieNcartoons
Summary: In what appears to be a sequel to the DreamWorks film, Mr. Peabody retells how he, Sherman and Penny travel to the year 1914 to accompany Milo Thatch in an epic search to find the lost city of Atlantis. In honor of the Disney film's 16th anniversary.
1. Mr Peabody's Introduction

Greetings, faithful readers. Mr. Peabody here.

For uncounted centuries, most people believe the city of Atlantis is unreal and can only be found in our imaginations. But there are some who believe Atlantis is still out there.

I should know. Sherman and I have seen it with our own eyes.

* * *

It all began one crisp Friday afternoon. School was out for the weekend and I had just arrived to pick up Sherman, who, at that moment, hurried down the steps towards my scooter.

"Guess what, Mr. Peabody?" he said. "Penny and I are partners are next week's history report."

"Well, that's fascinating." I said. "Have you two decided on a topic?"

"Well, I was thinking about Hercules." said Sherman. "So why not go to Greece?"

"In your dreams." said Penny Peterson, Sherman's classmate and close friend. "I say we go to China. That's where Mulan lives."

"What's wrong with Hercules?" asked Sherman.

"Oh, nothing." said Penny. "It's just that Mulan is a much better topic."

"Are you trying to say that girls are better than boys?" asked Sherman.

"Maybe I am." smirked Penny.

Luckily, I was able to break up the argument by whistling for their attention.

"I believe I have a better idea." I said.

* * *

I brought the kids home and down to the WABAC.

"So where are are going, Mr. Peabody?" asked Sherman.

"Not 'where,' 'when," I said as I punched in the coordinates. "To the year 1914, where we shall accompany cartographer/linguist Milo J. Thatch in his search for the lost city of Atlantis."

"Does Atlantis even exist?" asked Penny.

"We shall see in due time, Miss Peterson." I said. "We shall see in due time."


	2. Meet Milo Thatch

Punctually, the WABAC transported us to Washington D.C. 1914, where we find ourselves in front of the Smithsonian Institute, where a certain Milo J. Thatch was employed.

"What are we doing here?" asked Penny.

"Because, my dear Penny," I said as we walked inside the museum. "Today promises to be a big one for Milo. Or at least it would've been if the directors hadn't dismissed him."

"What do you mean?" asked Sherman.

"Well, you see, Sherman," I said. "Milo was hoping to propose an expedition to find Atlantis, but the museum directors think of him as a total wacko, so..."

* * *

Unless I was mistaken, and I never am, the museum directors had, in fact, rejected Milo's proposal about finding Atlantis.

"I swear, that young Thatch gets crazier every year. " said one of the directors.

"If I ever hear the word 'Atlantis' again, I'll step in front of a bus!" said another director.

"Ha ha ha! I'll push you!" said the first director.

Just then, a voice rang out. "Mr. Harcourt!"

It was Milo J. Thatch.

Struck with terror upon seeing him, the directors ran off to hide in different rooms and locking the doors, leaving Mr. Harcourt out in the open. He hurried out of the museum as fast as he could to his waiting car.

Milo quickly followed after him.

"Wait! Mr. Harcourt! Sir, I...I have new evidence that... Please, Mr. Harcourt! Stop!"

Milo gave Mr. Harcourt his papers to hold while he presented the first one, but Mr. Harcourt still refused to listen.

"This museum funds scientific expeditions based on facts, not legends and folklore." he said. "Besides, we need you here. We depend on you."

"You do?" asked Milo.

"Yes! What with winter coming, that boiler's going to need a lot of attention."

"Boiler?"

"Onward, Heinz!"

As the car drove away, Milo tried to get Mr. Harcourt's attention.

"But there...there's a journal! It's in Iceland! I'm sure of it this time!"

Mr. Harcourt just lowered the window curtains, but Milo wasn't willing to give up. He hopped into the front of the car.

"Sir, I really hoped it wouldn't come to this, but this is a letter of resignation." he said, holding a piece of paper. "If you reject my proposal, I'll..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Heinz drove Milo out of the way and resumed driving.

"I'll quit!" MIlo called out.

That caught Mr. Harcourt's attention. He ordered Heinz to back up the car towards Milo.

"I mean it, sir." he said. "If you refuse to fund my proposal..."

"You'll what? Flush your career down the toilet just like your grandfather?" guessed Mr. Harcourt. "You have a lot of potential, Milo. Don't throw it all away chasing fairy tales."

"But I can prove Atlantis exists!" pleaded Milo.

"You want to go on an expedition? Here."

Mr. Harcourt pulled out a nickel and tossed it to Milo.

"Take a trolley to the Potomac. Jump in!" he said. "Maybe the cold water will clear your head. Heinz!"

The car drove off again, splashing Milo with water.

That's when we came along.

"Fret not, Mr. Thatch." I said. "We three believe in Atlantis as much as you do."

"We do?" asked Penny

"You do?" asked Milo.

"Yes," I replied. "In fact, we have some questions to ask you."

Before I can ask the first question, however, thunder start to rumble.

"Indoors, that is." I added.


	3. Mr Whitmore's Proposal

"I know it's not much, but..." said Milo as he lead us inside his apartment.

"Well, anything's better than being outside, that's for sure." said Penny as she tried to turn on the light.

The thunder outside flashed, revealing a blonde woman staring out the window. "Milo James Thatch?"

Milo was astounded to find someone already in his apartment. "Who...who are you? How did you get in here?"

"That's for me to know and you to listen." said the woman. "My name is Helga Sinclair. I'm acting on behalf of my employer who has a most intriguing proposition for you. Are you interested?"

"Your employer?" scoffed Penny. "Who is your employer?"

* * *

Without another word, Miss Sinclair drove us to the mansion of eccentric billionaire, Preston Whitmore.

"You will address him as 'Mr. Whitmore' or 'Sir.'" she instructed aboard the elevator. "You will stand unless asked to be seated. Keep your sentences short and to the point. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." I replied.

The elevator stopped at a huge gallery.

"And relax." added Miss Sinclair as she closed the elevator doors behind us. "He doesn't bite...often."

We all took a look around the gallery.

"Wow!" said Sherman. "This is the biggest basement I've ever seen."

"Yet there must be some reason why Mr. Whitmore wants to see us." I said.

Milo kept his eyes focused on a portrait hanging above the fireplace. "Grandpa?"

"Finest explorer I ever met." said a voice.

We all turned to see a man sitting like a pretzel on a stool.

"Preston Whitmore, I presume?" I asked.

"You presumed correctly." replied Mr. Whitmore, using his foot to shake my paw. "Join me in a little yoga?"

"Uh, Mr. Whitmore, sir," said Milo. "Do you really know my grandfather?"

"Oh, yeah. Met old Thaddeus back in Georgetown." said Mr. Whitmore as he resumed his yoga. "Class of '66. We stayed close friends till the end of his days. Even dragged me along on some of his dang fool expeditions. Thatch was crazy as a fruit bat, he was. He spoke of you often."

"Funny. He...he never mentioned you." said Milo.

"Oh, he wouldn't." said Mr. Whitmore. "He knew how much I liked my privacy."

That's what worried me when the lower part of his bathrobe drooped down, revealing his private body parts.

"Oh, dear." I said to myself as I covered Sherman and Penny's eyes.

"I keep a low profile." added Mr. Whitmore.

"Mr. Whitmore, should I be wondering why I'm here?" asked Milo.

"Look on that table." said Mr. Whitmore, pointing to a package on the table. "Ah! It's for you."

Milo picked up the package. A little inscription in the front said, _"For Milo. With Love, Thaddeus Thatch."_

"It's... it's from my grandfather." he said.

"He brought that package to me years ago." said Mr. Whitmore. "He said if anything were to happen to him, I should give it to you when you were ready. Whatever that means."

Milo began to open the package, which was actually a book. But, of course, it wasn't just any book.

"It...It can't be. It's the _Shepherd's Journal_." he exclaimed. "Mr. Whitmore, this journal is the key to finding the lost continent of Atlantis!"

Mr. Whitmore only laughed as he wallked over to his changing screen. "Atlantis! Ha ha ha! I wasn't born yesterday, son."

"No, no, no. Look at this." said Milo as he showed Penny, Sherman and I the journal. "Coordinates, clues. It's all right here"

"Yeah, looks like gibberish to me." said Mr. Whitmore

"That's because it's been written in a...in a dialect that no longer exists." said Milo

"So it's useless."

"No, no, just difficult. I've spent my whole life studying dead languages It's not gibberish to me"

"Ah, it's probably a fake." said Mr. Whitmore, fully dressed.

Milo slowly turned to Mr. Whitmore.

"Mr. Whitmore, my grandfather would have known if this were a fake. I would know." he said. "I will stake everything I own, everything that I believe in, that this is the genuine _Shepherd's Journal_."

"All right, all right." said Mr. Whitmore as he sat down in his chair. "So what do you want to do with it?"

"Well, I'll... I'll...I'll get funding. I mean, I'll...The museum."

"They'll never believe you." reminded Mr. Whitmore.

"I'll show them!" said Milo "I will make them believe."

"Like you did today?" I asked.

"Yes!" said Milo. "Well, no. How did you...Forget about them, OK? Never mind! I will find Atlantis on my own. I mean, if I have to rent a rowboat!"

Mr. Whitmore smiled at Mio's words.

"Congratulations, Milo. This is exactly what I wanted to hear. But forget the rowboat, son. We'll travel in style."

As he spoke, he pushed a button, revealing a row of tiny models rising up from the table.

"Wow," said Penny as she picked up a submarine model. "They look just like toys."

"Hardly." I said, snatching the model out of Penny's hand and back to its proper place.

"It's all been arranged, the whole ball of wax." said Mr. Whitmore.

"Why?" asked Sherman.

"For years, Old Thaddeus bent my ear with stories about that old book." explained Mr. Whitmore. "I didn't buy it for a mintue. So finally, I got fed up and made a bet with the old coot. I said, 'Thatch, if you ever actually find that so-called journal, not only will I finance the expedition, but I'll kiss you full on the mouth.'"

He showed us another portraint of himself and Thaddeus Thatch. "Imagine my embarrassment when he found the darn thing."

"That's disgusting." I commented.

"Now I know your grandfather's gone, Milo, God rest his soul, but Preston Whitmore is a man who keeps his word." Mr. Whitmore went on as he turned to the main potrait above the fireplace. "You hear that, Thatch? I'm going to the afterlife with a clear conscience, by thunder!"

He chuckled for a minute, then let out a sad sigh.

"Your grandpa was a great man." he said to Milo, still gazing at the fireplace. "You probably don't realize how great. Those buffoons at the museum dragged him down, made a laughingstock of him. He died a broken man. If I could bring back just one shred of proof, that'd be enough for me. Oh, Thatch."

He then turned his attention to us. "What are we standing around for? We got work to do."

"But, Mr. Whitmore, in order to do what you're proposing, you're going to need a crew." I said.

"Taken care of!" replied Mr. Whitmore.

"You'll need engineers and geologits." added Penny

"Got 'em all. The best of the best." said Mr. Whitmore as he showed us each resume. "Gaetan Moliere, geology and excavaction. Man has a nose for dirt. Vincenzo Santorini, demolitions. Busted him out of a Turkish prison. Aurdrey Rameriez. Don't let her age fool you. She's forgotten more about engines than you or I will ever know. They're the same crew that brought the Journal back."

"Where was it?" asked Sherman

"Iceland." said Mr. Whitmore as he pulled out a picture of Thaddeus Thatch and his entire crew with the Shepard's Journal.

"I knew it! I knew it!" said Milo.

"All we need now is an expert in gibberish." Mr. Whitmore went on. "So, it's decision time. You can build on the foundation your grandfather left you or you can go back to your boiler room."

Milo looked at the picture for a mintue, then plopped down in the chair across from Mr. Whitmore. "This is for real."

"Now you're catching on." said Mr. Whitmore.

"All right. OK. I'll have to quit my job." said Milo

"It's done." I said. "You resigned this afternoon."

"I did?"

"Yep, don't like to leave loose ends." said Mr. Whitmore.

"Um, my apartment. I have to give notice." said Milo.

"Taken care of." assured Mr. Whitmore.

"My clothes?"

"Packed."

"My books?"

"In storage."

"My cat?"

At those words, Milo's cat, Fluffy let out a little meow.

"My gosh." whispered Milo.

"Your granddad had a saying, 'Our lives are remembered by the gifts we leave our children.'" said Mr. Whitmore. "This journal is his gift to you, Milo. Atlantis is waiting. What do you say?"

"I'm your man, Mr. Whitmore! You will not regret this." exclaimed Milo as he put on the coat Mr. Whitmore handed to him, in backwards of course. "Why, I am so excited, I-I-I-I-I can't even hold it in."


	4. The Search Begins

A few days later, we found ourselves sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.

Penny noticed that Sherman and Milo were not feeling too well.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, great." said Sherman. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Attention. All hands to the launch bay." announced Mrs. Packard, the communications officer through the loud speakers. "To whoever took the 'L' from the motor pool sign... ha ha, we are all very asmused."

As we made our way through the numerous vehicles, a woman crossed our path.

"Excuse me? My friends and I need to, uh, report in?" said Milo.

"Yes, Mr. Thatch?" said the woman.

Sherman panicked upon seeing her. "Aah! Uh, it's you!"

It was, indeed, Miss Sinclair, the same woman who brought us to Mr. Whitmore before.

"Blondie, I got a bone to pick with you." said a voice from behind Miss Sinclair.

That voice belonged to Jedidiah Allardyce Farnsworth, or Cookie for short, who is to be our chef during our excursion to Atlantis.

"What is it this time, Cookie?" asked Miss Sinclair.

"You done stuffed my wagon full to bustin' with non-essentials." complained Cookie. "Look at all this...cinnamon, oregano, cilantro. What in the cockadoodle is cilantro?"

"I believe the 'I' is silent in cilantro." I said, pronouncing the word correctly.

Cookie just grumbled as he picked up something else. "What is this?"

"That would be lettuce." said Miss Sinclair.

Cookie hesitated "Lettuce? Lettuce?!"

"It's a vegetable, my good man." I said. "The men, like Sherman, need the four basic food groups."

"I got your four basic food groups, doggie!" snapped Cookie. "Beans, bacon, whiskey, and lard!"

"No, the real four basic food groups are..."

Just then, an alarm sounded.

"All right, you two. Pack it up and move it out!" informed Miss Sinclair

* * *

"Attention. All hands to the launch bay." announced Mrs. Packard through the speakers. "Final loading in progress."

We all hurried to the elevator, which went to the launch bay, where all the machinery was boarding the enormous submarine _Ulysses._

"Hey, kids." said a man from behind us. "Didn't you read the sign? No dogs are allowed."

Of course, he was referring to me. Although I prefer to be called a literate dog.

"Excuse me? Excuse me? You dropped your dy-dy-dy-dynamite." Milo called out to the man, who was actually Vincenzo Santorini a.k.a. Vinny. "What else have you, uh, got in there?"

"Oh, eh, gunpowder, nitroglycerin, notepads, fuses, wicks, glue, and...paper clips. Big ones." said Vinny. "You know, just, uh, office supplies."

Sherman laughed, but then he said. "I don't get it."

At that moment, Mr. Whitmore called out to us."Fellas, where you been? Want you to meet Commander Rourke. He led the Iceland team that brought the Journal back."

Rourke smiled upon seeing...

"Milo Thatch. Pleasure to meet the grandson of old Thaddeus."

He then turned to me. "And you must be the amazing Mr. Peabody."

"Guilty as charged, commander." I said, shaking his hand.

"See you got that journal." added Rourke. "Nice pictures, but...I prefer a good western myself."

"Pretty impressive, eh?" Mr. Whitmore asked Milo, who replied. "Boy, when you settle a bet, y-you settle a bet,"

"Well, your granddad always believed you couldn't put a price on the pursuit of knowledge." said Mr. Whitmore.

"Well, uh, believe me." said Milo. "This'll be small change compared to the value what we're gonna learn on this trip."

"Yes, this should be enriching for all of us, eh, Sherman?" I asked.

"You bet, Mr. Peabody." agreed Sherman.

"Attention, all personnel. Launch will commence in 15 minutes." announced Mrs. Packard through the speakers.

"Is it time to go?" asked Penny.

"Yes," answered Rourke, "It's time, little lady."

A smile crossed Penny's face as she grabbed ahold of Sherman's hand. "Come on, Sherman."

"Bye, Mr. Whitmore!" Milo called out.

"Make us proud, boy!" said Mr. Whitmore before the submarine doors closed.

* * *

Once inside the _Ulysses_ , Rourke turned to his second-in-command, Miss Sinclair. "Lietuenant, take her down."

"Diving officer, submerge the ship." Miss Sinclair instructed the crew. "Make the depth 1-5-0 feet."

* * *

Outside, the _Ulysses_ was released, descending slowly towards the depths of the sea.

The search for Atlantis has begun!


	5. Meet the Crew

Inside the _Ulysses_ , Milo made his way to one of the bunks, but as soon as he got settled into his bed, he noticed somebody watching him from the upper bunk.

"You have disturbed the dirt." hissed the man, whose name was Gaetan Moliere, or Mole for short.

"Uh, pardon me?" asked Milo

"You have disturbed the dirt!" repeated Moliere as he pulled off the covers from Milo's bed. "Dirt from around the globe, spanning the centuries! What have you done? England must never merge with France!"

"What's it doin' in my bed?" asked Milo.

"You ask too many questions." snapped Moliere. "Who are you? Who sent you? Speak up!"

"Me? I'm, uh..."

"Bah!" scoffed Moliere as he grabbed Milo's hand. "I will know soon enough."

"Hey, hey, hey! Let go!" protested Milo.

"Do not be such a crybaby. Hold still." said Moliere as he plucked out a speck of dirt with his tweezers. "Aha! There you are. Now tell me your story,my little friend. Parchment fiber from the Nile circa 500 B. C. Lead pencil, number 2. Paint flecks of a type used in government buildings. You have a cat, short-haired Persian, two years old, third in a litter of seven. These are all the microscopic fingerprints of the mapmaker."

He then took a taste of the speck and added. "And linguist."

Before Milo could ask, Moliere tossed him his stuff and tried to push him out of the bunk room.

"This is an outrage!" he said. "You must leave at once! Out, out, out, out, out!"

Just then, Milo bumped into someone. He removed his coat to find himself face-to-face with a large muscular man. Dr. Joshua Sweet, to be precise.

"Uh-oh. Sat in the dirt, didn't you?" he asked Milo. "Moliere, now what have I told you about playing nice with the other kids?"

Before Moliere could protest, Dr. Sweet pulled out a bar of soap.

"Get back. I've got soap, and I'm not afraid to use it."

Moliere let out a hiss and scampered up to his bunk as Dr. Sweet used his towel as a whip.

"Back, foul creature! Back to the pit from which you came!"

Then he turned to Milo and shook his hand.

"The name's Sweet. Joshua Sweet, medical officer."

"Yeah, Milo Thatch." said Milo, introducing himself.

"Milo Thatch. You're my three o'clock." said Dr. Sweet as he pulled out a saw from his medical bag. "Well, no time like the present."

"Oh, boy." Milo said to himself upon seeing the saw.

"Nice, isn't it?" said Dr. Sweet. "The catalog says that this little beauty can saw through a femur in 28 seconds. I'm bettin' I can cut that time in half."

He put the saw back in his bag and pulled out a tongue depressor from his coat pocket.

"Now, stick out your tongue and say 'ahh.'" he instructed Milo, who replied. "Oh, no. Really, I have a... Aah."

Dr. Sweet had just pressed the depressor on Milo's tongue as he asked. "So, where you from?"

Milo could only babble.

"Really? I have family up that way." said Dr. Sweet as he placed a thermometer in Milo's mouth and checked his heart with a stethsocope. "Beautiful country up there. Do you do any fishing?"

Milo could hardly talk with the thermometer in his mouth.

"Me? I hate fishing. I hate fish." Dr. Sweet went on. "Hate the taste, hate the smell and hate all them little bones."

He then pulled out two measuring cups.

"Here, I'm gonna need you to fill these up."

Milo spit out the thermometer in panic. "With what?"

"Will Milo Thatch please report to the bridge?" Mrs. Packard said thorugh the submarine speakers.

Milo let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Then he turned to Dr. Sweet. "I mean, uh, uh, nice meeting you."

"Uh-huh. Nice meeting you too." Dr. Sweet called out as Milo hurried over to the bridge.

* * *

When Milo got to the bridge, he saw everything was hard at work, taking orders from Rourke and Miss Sinclair while Mrs. Packard kept them informed of what was going on outside the _Ulysses._

"OK, everybody." Rourke said to those, including myself, Sherman and Penny, aboard the bridge deck. "I want you to give Mr. Thatch your undivided attention."

Milo shyly waved at us. "Good afternoon. Can everyone hear me OK?"

While the others stared at Milo coldly, my group, Sherman actually, was prepping up to write what Milo has to say.

"Heh, OK, uh, how...how 'bout some slides?" he said. "The... the first slide is a depiction of a creature. A creature so frightening that sailors were said to be driven mad by the mere sight of it."

Unfortunately, the first slide revealed Milo's day at the beach

"Oh, my." I said.

"I'm sorry. That's... wrong." said Milo as he tried to find the right slide.

"Geez, I used to take lunch money from guys like this." Engineer Audrey Rameriez said to Vinny.

"Anyway," Milo went on as he found the right slide and placed on the projector. "This, OK.. this is an illustration of the Leviathan, the creature guarding the entrance to Atlantis."

"With something like that, I would have white wine, I think." said Vinny.

"It's a mythical sea serpent." resumed Milo. "He's describedin the Book of Job. The...the Bible says...'Out of his mouth go burning lights, sparks of fire shoot out.' But more likely, it's a carving or a sculpture to frighten the superstitious."

"So we find this masterpiece." guessed Penny. "Then what?"

"When do we dig?" asked Moliere.

"Actually, we don't have to dig." said Milo as he drew on the board, describing how we shall get to Atlantis. "You see, according to the Journal, the path to Atlantis will take us down a tunnel at the bottom of the ocean. And we'll come up a curve into an air pocket right here, where we'll find the remnants of an ancient highway that will lead us to Atlantis. Kind of like the grease trap in your sink."

"So you're a catrographer, linguist and plumber." said Miss Sinclair, who then said to Rourke. "Hard to believe he's still single."

"Are you keep track, Sherman?" I asked.

"Every word, Mr. Peabody." said Sherman.

"Captain, you'd better come look at this, sir." the helmsman said to Rourke."

"OK, class dismissed." said Rourke. "Give me exterior lights."

Outside the _Ulysses,_ the lights went on, revealing the ocean floor surrounded by wreckage.

"What are they?" asked Penny.

"They appear to be ships from every era." I said.

Little did we know that we were in for a surprise attack.


	6. Attack of the Leviathan

Mrs. Packard started to pick up something from outside the _Ulysses._

"Commander, I think you should hear this." she said to Rourke, who was listening to Milo as he read through the Shepard's Journal.

"'Predeshtem logtunug...nah geb.' 'Enter the lair of the Leviathan. There you will find the path to the gateway.'"

"Commander?"

"Yes, Mrs. Packard. What is it?" asked Rourke

"I'm picking up something on the hydrophone. I think you should hear." replied Mrs. Packard.

"Put it on speakers." said Rourke.

Once Mrs. Packard did so, a huge roar echoed inside the _Ulysses._ Penny gasped upon hearing it.

"What is it? A pod of whales?" asked Rourke.

"Uh-uh. Bigger." replied Mrs. Packard.

"It sounds metallic." I said. "Could be an echo off one of the rocks."

"Do you want to do my job? Be my guest." said Mrs. Packard.

"Is it just me," said Milo. "Or is that getting louder?"

It was indeed getting louder, but then, all was silent, startling everyone, except for Miss Sinclair, who only sneered. "Well, whatever it was, it's gone now."

Sherman didn't like the sound of that. "Mr. Peabody?"

"Yes, Sherman?"

"Can I hold your hand?"

'Of course you can."

"Helmsman! Bring us about." ordered Rourke. "Tighten our search pattern and slow us to..."

Just then, something crashed into the _Ulysses._

"What's happening?" panicked Penny.

"We appear to be attacked by the Leviathan!" I said.

Outside, the Leviathan was, in fact, attacking the _Ulysses._

"Tell Cookie to melt the butter and bring out the bibs." Rourke said to Miss Sinclair. "I want this lobster served up on a silver platter."

"Load the torpedo bays!" ordered Miss Sinclair. "Subpod crews, battle stations!"

While some of the crew hurried to the subpods, the Leviathan snatched the _Ulysses_ with its enormous claw. Inside, Milo was hurtled towards to the window where he came face-to-face with the sea monster's eye.

"Jiminy Christmas! It's a machine!" he realized.

"Launch subpods!" ordered Rourke.

The subpods blasted out of the _Ulysses_ and charged at the Leviathan.

"Fire!" commanded Rourke through the radio.

Those inside the subpods aimed their torpedoes at the Leviathan and shot at it. Each blast caused the sea creature to let go of the _Ulysses._

"We're free. All ahead full." Rourke said to the crew. "Fire torpedoes!"

The main torpedoes were launched, but the Leviathan retaliated by firing a deadly blast at the _Ulysses_ , causing the nuts to pop out in the boilder room.

Audrey hurried up to the ladder as fast as she could.

"Get me the bridge!" she said to her fellow engineers.

* * *

"Sir, it's engineering on four." informed Mrs. Packard.

Rourke turned on the intercom just as Audrey's voice blurted out, "Rourke! We took a big hit down here and we're taking on water fast. I don't want to be around when it hits the boiler."

"How much time do we have?" asked Rourke.

"Twenty minutes if the bulkhead holds."

Just then, there was another crash.

"You better make that five." corrected Audrey.

"That was all Rourke needed to hear. "You heard the lady. Let's move!"

"Penny, Sherman, quickly." I said as we hurried down the bridge.

Milo was right behind us asking, "Move where?"

"Packard, sound the alarm!" ordered Miss Sinclair.

Mrs. Packard wasn't listening. She was gossping with her friend, Marge. "He took his suitcase? Marge, honey, I don't think he's comin' back."

"Packard!" shouted Miss Sinclair.

"I have to call you back." Mrs. Packard said to her friend. "No, no, I'll call you."

* * *

My group and I had just got inside the WABAC as Mrs. Packard said through the speakers, "All hands abandon ship."

"Move it, people!" hollered Miss Sinclair. "Sometime today would be nice!"

Milo, Audrey and Dr. Sweet hurried inside an Aqua-Evac.

"Come on! Everybody grab a seat and buckle in." instructed Miss Sinclair as she hurried to where Rourke was. "Lieutenant, get us out of here!"

Miss Sinclair tried to push the lever, but it wouldn't budge.

"Lieutenant!"

"I'm working on it!"

* * *

The Leviathan fired another blast at the _Ulysses._

Thinking fast, I noticed a button with the inscription, " _Push in Case of Emergency."_

And since this was an emergency, I pushed the button. The WABAC sped towards the back door of the _Ulysses._

"Hang on!" I said to Sherman and Penny as the WABAC and the Aqua-Evacs sped away from the _Ulysses_ just as it crashed onto the rocks.

Inside one of the Aqua-Evacs, Rourke turned to Milo. "Where to, Mr. Thatch?"

Milo looked through the Shepard's Journal as he said. "We're looking for a big crevice of some kind."

"There! Up ahead!" Rourke said upon seeing the crevice.

"All craft, make your mark. Twenty degrees down angle." informed Miss Sinclair.

"Roger that!" I replied. "Twenty degrees down angle."

"Right behind you." added Moliere aboard one of the sub pods.

We had just reached the crevice as the Leviathan charged after us. Since it was unable to follow us, it shot out one final blast, sending the last few subpods into collision with each other.

"It's only a grease trap. It's just like a sink." Milo said to himself, trying not to panic. "It's only a grease trap. It's just like a sink!"

The last Aqua-Evac, subpod containing Vinny and Moliere and the WABAC sped as fast as they could to avoid another blast from the Leviathan when we finally reached the end of a submerged tunnel. Once above the surface, we found ourselves inside of an underground cave.

We turned on the exteroir lights and found ourselves in front of a most extraordinary sight.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Sherman.

"Yes, it is, Sherman." I said. "The gateway to Atlantis."

"Where's the welcoming committee?" asked Penny as she looked around for the rest of the crew.

I let out a sad sigh. "I'm afraid there isn't any."

Unless I was mistaken, and I never am, we have, in fact, suffered a great deal of casualties due to our massive adversary.


	7. The Search Continues

Once on land, the last surviving members of the crew, including my own, all gathered together as Dr. Sweet lit up a candle, placed it on a helmet, and let it drift away into the water while Rourke said a prayer.

"Seven hours ago, we started this expedition with two hundred of the finest men and women I've ever known. We're all that's left. I won't sugar-coat it, ladies and gentlemen. We have a crisis in our hands. But we've been up this particular creek before and we've always come through, paddle or no paddle. I see no reason to change that policy now. From here on in, everyone pulls double duty. Everyone drives, everyone works."

Then he turned to Milo. "Looks like all our chances for survival rest with you, Mr. Thatch. You and that little book."

He then turned to us. "Okay, people. Saddle up."

We all hurried to our respective vehicles while Milo toyed around with a bicycle horn that was attached to one of the trucks until Rourke ripped it away with his bare hand.

"Are you sure you're checked out on this class of vehicle?" he asked.

Milo looked at him, confused. "Uhh..."

"Can you drive a truck?" Rourke said, being more specific.

Milo let out a small chuckle. "Of course I can drive a truck. I mean, sure, you got your steering and your gas and your brake and, of course, this metal, uh, looking...thing."

Rourke raised his eyebrows.

"OK, so it was a bumper car at Coney Island," said Milo. "But it's the same basic principle."

Rourke sighed as Milo tried to drive the truck. Unfortunately, he was causing a traffic jam. So he had to ride with my group on the WABAC as we continued our search to Atlantis, unaware of what lies in front of us.

* * *

We ventured through the Atlantean highway for quite some time until we came to a fork in the road.

Milo looked through the Shepard's Journal and then pointed left.

Unfortunately, that way lead to the home of a monstrous bug.

Upon reading the journal some more, Milo realized his error and pointed to the _right_ way, much to the crew's annoyance.

* * *

We stopped by a nearby river to gather the water we need for our journey.

As Milo jugged his water down, Vinny walked up to him.

"You didn't just drink that, did you?" he asked.

Milo nodded his head yes.

"That's not good. That's nitroglycerin." said Vinny. "Don't move. Eh, don't breathe. Don't do anything, except pray, maybe."

Just then, a loud voice shouted out, "BOOM!"

Milo realized that Moliere and Vinny were only playing a trick on him.

* * *

We resumed our journey until one day, we found ourselves in front of a humongous pillar.

"Good night! Will you look at the size of this!" said Milo. "It's gotta be half a mile high at least! It must have taken hundred...no, pfft, thousands of years to carve this thing."

Having ringed the pillar with dynamite, Vinny dragged Milo out the way and pushed down the plunger. The impact from the explosion caused the pillar to collapse.

"Hey, look, I made a bridge." he said. "It only took me, like, what...ten seconds, eleven tops."

So we rolled along, unaware that we were being watched.

* * *

After we went past a frozen tundra of a tunnel, we then found ourselves in front of a huge wall.

"Looks like we have another roadblock." I said.

"Vinny, what do you think?" asked Rourke.

"I could unroadblock that if I had about two hundred of these," said Vinny, holding up his stick of dynamite. "Problem is I only got about...ten. Plus, you know, five of my own...and a couple of cherry bombs...a road flare. Hey, too bad we don't have some nitroglycerin, eh, Milo?"

Again, Sherman laughed and then said, "I don't get it."

I, on the other hand, felt jealous around Vinny's jokes.

"Looks like we're gonna have to dig." said Rourke.

That was all Moliere wanted to hear.

"It will be my pleasure!" he said, giving Rourke a thumbs up.

Moliere started up the Digger and prepared to drill his way through the wall, but just then, the Digger went haywire and stopped working.

Audrey was called to look over the situation.

"I don't understand it. I just tuned this thing up this morning." she said as she looked inside the back of the engine before concluding, "It looks like the rotor's shot! I'm gonna have to pull a spare from one of the trucks."

"Can l..." Milo began before Audrey interuppted him, saying. "No toques nada! I'll be right back."

"Was that English?" asked Penny.

 _"Si, se_ ñ _orita_ Peterson." I said. "No toques nada means..."

Before I could finish, however, the Digger unexpectedly roared back to life. Apparently, Milo must've fixed it.

"Don't touch." I concluded.

"Hey, what'd you do?" asked Audrey.

"Well, you know, the boiler in this baby is a Humac model P54/813. Now we got the 814 back at the museum." explained Milo, trying to act suave towards Audrey. "The heating cores on the whole Humac line have always been a little, you know, temperamental. So sometimes you gotta...boom! Persuade 'em a little."

"Yeah, yeah, thank you very much." said an unimpressed Audrey as she closed the back engine door, then turned to Milo, for she realized that he was toying around in there, even though she specifically told him not to. "Two for flinching."

She punched Milo in the arm twice as she walked off.

With that taken care of, I turned to my group. "Shall we...keep digging?"

* * *

By the end of the day, we came across a glowing rock formation in the celing that resembles of chandelier.

"Is this it?" asked Penny.

Milo looked at the Shepard's Journal some more and concluded. "It's gotta be."

That meant we were close to finding Atlantis.

"All right, we'll make camp here." Rourke said to the crew.

"Why is it glowing?" asked Audrey.

"Pah! It is a natural phosphorescene." explained Moliere.

"At least, we have a night light for when it's time for bed, right?" said Sherman

Penny raised up one eyebrow. "Really, Sherman?"

"That thing is going to keep me up all night. I know it." said Vinny.


	8. Getting Acquainted with the Crew

"Come and get it!" announced Cookie.

That meant it was time for dinner.

He ladled up some trays with what appears to be mystery meat and served them to the crew. "For the appetizer, Caesar salad, escargot, and your Oriental spring rolls."

"Yuck." commented Audrey.

"I wanted the escargot." complained Moliere.

"Knock yourself out." said Audrey as she reluctantly gave her tray to Moliere.

* * *

At another side of the cave, Cookie came to where my group and Milo were and handed us some trays of that mystery meat.

"Here you go, partners." he said. "Put some meat on them bones."

Sherman tried not to look disgusted as he said. "Thanks, Cookie. That looks..."

"Greasier than usual." Penny concluded.

"You like it? Well, have some more." said Cookie as he poured more mystery meat into our trays. "Y'all so skinny, if you turned sideways and stuck out your tongue, you'd look like a zipper."

As Cookie rolled away with his mystery meat, I turned to my group. "Let's look over what we have so far, shall we?"

* * *

"You know, we've been pretty tough on the kid." Dr. Sweet said to those sitting with him. "What do you say we cut him some slack?"

"Yeah, you're right." agreed Audrey. "Hey, Milo! Why don't you come sit with us?"

"Really?" said Milo.

"Can we, Mr. Peabody?" asked Sherman.

"Mmm, I suppose so." I replied. "Do you have room for three more?"

"Nah. Park it here." said Audrey.

"Why, thank you, Miss Rameriz." I said as my group and Milo walked up to join Audrey, Dr. Sweet, Moliere, Vinny and Mrs. Packard by the fire.

"Gee, this is great." said Milo. "I mean, you know, it's an honor to be included in your..."

As Milo sat down, however, Moliere placed a whopee cushion on his rear end, making him look like he...well, let's just say it was inapporaiate, especially when it comes to making a first impression.

The crew was annoyed with Moliere's joke. "Mole!"

"Ah, forgive me. I could not resist." confessed Moliere.

"Hey, Milo, don't you ever close that book?" asked Audrey upon seeing Milo still reading the Shepard's Journal.

"Yeah, you must've read it a dozen times by now." agreed Dr. Sweet.

I know, but this...this doesn't make any sense." said Milo. "You see, in this passage here, the Shepherd seems to be leading up to something, he calls it the Heart of Atlantis. It could be the power source the legends refer to. But then it just...it cuts off. It's almost like there's a missing page."

"Really?" asked Sherman.

"Kid, relax." assured Vinny. "We don't get paid overtime."

"I know, I know. Sometimes, I geta little carried away." said Milo. "But, hey, you know, that's whatt his is all about, right? I mean, discovery, teamwork, adventure...unless...maybe...you're just in it for the money."

One by one, those sitting with us all said the same answer.

"Money."

"Money."

"Money."

"Money."

"I'm gonna say money."

"Yes, well, my group are mostly here for eduactional purposes." I explained. "Sherman?"

Sherman pulled out the notes we have and handed them to each of the crew.

Milo let out a sigh. "Well, I guess I set myself up for that one."

"Is something wrong with your neck?" asked Dr. Sweet.

"Oh, yeah," said Milo. "I must've hurt it when..."

Before he could continue, though, Dr. Sweet grabbed his neck and rocked it back and forth.

"Better?"

"Yeah!" replied Milo, relieved that pain was gone from his neck. "Hey, how'd you learn how to do that?"

"An Arapaho medicine man." explained Dr. Sweet.

"Get outta here."

"Born and raised with 'em. My father was an army medic." said Dr. Sweet as he pulled out a picture of his own family from his shirt pocket. "He settled down in the Kansas Territory after he met my mother."

"No kidding." said Sherman.

"Nope. I got a sheep skin from Howard U and a bear skin from old Iron Cloud." Dr. Sweet went on. "Halfway through medical school, I was drafted. One day I'm studying gross anatomy in the classroom, the next I'm sewing up Rough Riders on San Juan Hill."

"Looks like you've got some competition there, eh, Mr. Peabody?" asked Penny.

"Don't start, Miss Peterson." I replied.

"Main course." Cookie called out.

One by one, we all said we couldn't eat another bite of that mystery meat.

"Ha ha ha, don't you worry." said Cookie. "It'll keep and keep and keep."

"Thank God I lost my sense of taste years ago." said Mrs. Packard as we all dumped the mystery meat into the fire.

* * *

By now, it was time to get ready for bed. But while the crew pitched our tents, my group will be sleeping inside the WABAC.

"Aren't you going to pitch up your tent?" Penny asked Milo, who replied. "Uh, I did."

"Allow me." I said as I properly fixed up Milo's tent.

"Guess I'm still a little rusty at this." confessed Milo. "I haven't gone camping since...well, since the last time my grandpa took me."

"I never got to meet your gradnfather." said Audrey. "What was he like?"

"Where do you start? He was like a father to me, really." explained Milo as he unrolled his sleeping pad. "My parents died when I was a little kid and...he took me in."

"I know just how you feel, Milo." I said. "When I found Sherman, he reminded me of how I started out in life. So, I gave him the one thing I always wanted, a home."

Milo chuckled a little bit.

"What?" asked Audrey.

"Well, I was...just thinkin'. One time, when I was eight, we were hiking along this stream and I saw something shining in the water. It was a genuine arrowhead." said Milo. "Well, you'd think I'd found a lost civilization the way Grandpa carried on about it. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that the arrowhead was just some compressed shale mixed with zinc pyrite that had fractured into an isosceletic triangulate."

Moliere giggled. "That is so cute!"

"Say, Audrey, uh, no...no offense, but how does a teenager become the chief mechanic of a multimillion dollar expedition?" asked Milo.

"Well, I took this job when my dad retired." replied Audrey. "But the funny thing was he always wanted sons, right? One to run his machine shop and the other to be middleweight boxing champion. But he got my sister and me instead."

"So, what happened to your sister?" asked Penny.

"She's 24 and 0, with a shot at the title next month." said Audrey "Anyway, I'm saving up so my Papi and I can open another shop."

"Forget your jammies, Mrs. Packard?" asked Milo.

"I sleep in the nude." explained Mrs. Packard as she walked to her tent.

"You might want a pair of these, Sherman." I said, handing Sherman an eye mask. "I hear she sleepwalks."

"Well, as far as me goes...I just like to blow things." said Vinny, already wearing his eye mask, until Dr. Sweet pulled on it, saying. "Come on, Vinny. Tell the kid the truth."

So Vinny did.

"My family owned a flower shop. We would sell roses, carnations, baby's breath, you name it. One day, I'm making about three dozen corsages for this prom. You know, the one they put on their wrist. And everybody, they come, 'Where is it?' 'When is it?' 'Does it match my dress?' It's a nightmare. Anyway, I guess there was this leak next door of gas or what...BOOM! No more Chinese laundry. Blew me right through the front window. It was like a sign from God. I found myself that boom."

At that moment, we heard some grunting. We turned around to see Moliere digging himself into the dirt.

"What's Mole's story?" asked Milo.

"Trust me on this one. You don't wanna know." said Dr. Sweet. "Audrey, don't tell him "You shouldn't have told me, but you now I'm telling you, you don't wanna know."


	9. Camp on Fire

We should've been aware of what was going to happen that night. For as we slept, three mysterious figures snuck into camp, each of them wearing a different mask.

One of them crept towards Milo's bag and look inside it.

But just then, Milo emerged from his tent, forcing the strangers to scurry away.

Milo crept past his fellow crew mates where he can go...well, I assume he has to do a numer one.

But as he placed a flashlight on his neck, he unexpectedly shined it on the glowing rock formation, and what looked like fireflies swarmed out of it.

Milo tried to swat them away with his toilet paper roll, which was hanging from a trowel, which was set ablaze upon doing so.

To his horror, Milo saw more fireflies landing on some tents and set them on...

"Fire." he realized. "Fire! Fire! FIRE! FIRE!"

Milo's scream woke Sherman right up.

"Is it morning already?" he asked.

I put on my glasses and gasped upon seeing what was in front of us. "I don't think that's daylight, Sherman."

Outside, everyone was trying to put out the fire.

"Get some water on that fire!" ordered Miss Sinclair.

"No time! Get us into those caves! Move it! Move it! Move it!" said Rourke.

I started up the WABAC while everyone else got on their vehicles. But as we tried to cross the bridge over the other side, a fuel truck caught fire and exploded, destroying the bridge and sending us all down towards a dark chasm.

* * *

I looked around the WABAC to see if Penny and Sherman were still there.

"Sherman? Penny? Are you OK?" I asked.

Sherman let out a groan. "I'm fine, Mr. Peabody."

"Me too." added Penny.

"All right, who's not dead? Sound off." called out Rourke.

Outside, the crew groaned as well. Thankfully, nobody was hurt.

"Dang blasted bugs done bit me on my sit-upon." said Cookie. "Somebody's gonna have to suck out that poison. Now don't everybody jump out at once."

"Audrey, give me a damage report." said Rourke.

"Not as bad as it could have been." explained Audrey. "We totaled rigs two and seven but the digger looks like it'll still run. Lucky for us, we landed in something soft."

Moliere examined the ground as well. "Pumice ash. We are standing at the baseof a dormant volcano."

Miss Sincliar pulled out a flare from her pocket and shot it towards the top.

"It just keeps going." she said.

"Maybe that's our ticket outta here." guessed Sherman.

"Or not." I said upon seeing the flare shot fading into the darkness.

"The magma has solidified in the bowels of the volcano, effectively blocking the exit." explained Moliere.

"I got the same problem with sauerkraut." commented Mrs. Packard.

"Hold on. Back up. Are you sayin' this whole volcano can blow at any time?" asked Dr. Sweet.

"No, no, no, no, no." said Moliere. "That would take an explosive force of great magnitude."

We all turned to Vinny, hoping that he has some more explosives. But he was busy fixing his alarm clock and turned to us. "Maybe I should do this later, huh?"

Rourke looked at the top of the volcano some more. "If we could blow the top off of that thing, we'd have a straight shot to the surface."

"Hmm," I said. "This may be crazy, but it just might work. Mr. Thatch, what do you think?"

Milo didn't respond.

"Mr. Thatch?" Rourke called out.

We all looked around and noticed that...

"He's gone." said Penny.

"Milo!" shouted Sherman.


	10. Holy Atlantis!

At another part of the cave, Milo awoke to find himself surrounded by the same strangers who were at our camp.

One of them came up to Milo and saw that he was injured.

The stranger removed its mask, revealing a white-haired girl. One Princess Kidagakash Nedakh, or Kida for short, if I'm not mistaken. And I never am.

Kida placed a blue crystal around her neck on Milo's wound and pressed on it with her hand.

In an instant, the wound magically disappeared.

Milo looked up at Kida, who smiled back at him and put her mask back on, before the WABAC's exterior lights went on.

"We found him!" I said to the crew.

Kida and the other strangers fled in terror.

"Hey, wait!" Milo called out as he tried to catch up with the strangers. "Who...who are you? Where are you going? Come back!"

The strangers disappeared through a chink in the wall. Milo squeezed his way through and called out to them again. "Hey, wait a minute! Who are you?"

Just then, Moliere plowed the digger through the wall behind Milo. Upon reaching him, though, we found ourselves in front of an extraordinary sight.

"Holy Atlantis!" exclaimed Sherman.

And right he was, for we were standing in front of the lost city of Atlantis, located in the center of a circular waterfall.

"It is for real." realized Penny.

"It's beautiful." added Audrey.

"Milo, I gotta hand it to you. You really came through." said Dr. Sweet as he placed an arm on Milo's shoudler.

Just then, five warriors, including a certain princess, wearing similar masks swooped in out of nowhere and pointed their spears at us.

"Must be the welcoming committee." joked Penny.

"Holy cats! Who are these guys?" said Rourke.

"They gotta be Atlanteans." answered Milo, upon recognizing one of the warriors.

"What? That's impossible!" sneered Miss Sinclair.

"Nothing is impossible, Miss Sinclair." I said. "Milo is correct in his assessment."

"I've seen this back in the Dakota." Cookie said to Penny and Sherman. "They can smell fear just by looking at ya. So keep quiet."

Kida started talking in Atlantean that Sherman could hardly understand what she was saying.

"What is she saying, Mr. Peabody?" he asked.

"Well, unless my translation is wrong, and it never is," I said. "I believe she's saying 'Who are you and why have you come here?'"

"Well, you're the Atlantean expert," Penny said to Milo. "Say something...Atlantean to her."

So Milo did, haltingly of course. Kida spoke more Atlantean as Milo replied back to her in said language.

"Ita, sum amice viator." said Milo, trying a different language.

"Dice linguam Romae." replied Kida.

"Parlez-vous francais?"

"Oui, monsieur!"

"Mon dieu." I commented.

"They speak my language!" exclaimed Moliere. "Pardon, mademoiselle? Ah, voulez-vous..."

He whispered somethng into Kida's ear, but ended up getting a sucker punch from her.

"Ooh, I like her!" said Dr. Sweet, clapping his hands.

"'Bout time someone hit him." added Audrey. "I'm just sorry it wasn't me."

One by one, the Atlantean warrios took off their masks and greeted us various languages besides their own.

"How do they know all these languages?" asked Penny.

"Their language must be based on a root dialect." I said. "It's just like the Tower of Babel."

"Well, maybe English is in there somewhere." wondered Rourke as he stepped to the warriors. "We are explorers from the surface world. We come in peace."

"Welcome to the city of Atlantis." greeted Kida, speaking English.

"Wow." said Penny.

"We've gotta check this place out." said Sherman.

"But first you must speak with my father, the king, before you check Atlantis out." explained Kida.

Already knowing she was a princess, I humbly replied. "If you insist, Your Highness."

"Squad B, head back to the shaft. Salvage what you can." Rourke said to some of his men. "We'll rendezvous in 24 hours."


	11. Meeting the King

Kida and the warriors lead us across a birdge overlooking a river of lava towards the city of Atlantis.

Milo was so overcome with excitement upon finding Atlantis, that he just...felt like talking.

"Now, what's really amazing is that if you deconstructed Latin, you overlaid it with a little Sumerian, throw in a dash of Thessalonian, you'd be getting close to their basic grammatical. At least you'd bein the same ballpark."

"Someone's having a good time." Miss Sinclair said to Rourke, who replied. "Like a kid at Christmas."

"Commander, there were not supposed to be people down here." said Miss Sinclair. "This changes everything."

"This changes nothing." replied Rourke.

* * *

Kida brought two groups; Milo's including himself, Miss Sinclair and Rourke, and mine including myself, Sherman and Penny, to the palace to meet her father, King Kashekim Nedakh.

"Greetings, Your Highness." said Kida in Atlantean. "I have brought ths visitors."

"You know the law, Kida." replied her father in Atlantean. "No outsiders may see the city and live."

Father, these people may be able to save us."

"We do not need their help."

"But, Father..."

"That is enough. We will discuss this later."

"Your Majesty?" interuppted Rourke. "On behalf of my crew, may I say it is an honor to be welcomed to your city."

"Uh, excuse me?" whispered Milo. "Commander?"

"You presume much to think you are welcome here." The King said to Rourke, who replied, "Sir, we have come a long way looking for..."

"I know what you seek," interuppted the King. "And you will not find it here. Your journey has been in vain."

"But we are peaceful explorers, Your Highness." I said.

The King chuckled lightly.

"And yet, you bring weapons" he said, noticing a gun tucked away in Rourke's pocket.

"Our weapons allow us to remove...obstacles we may encounter." explained Rourke.

"Some obstacles cannot be removed with a mere show of force." said the King. "Return to your people. You must leave Atlantis...at once."

"Well, you seem like a very busy man." said Penny as she prepared to leave."So we'll just be on our way and..."

"Not so fast, young lady." interrupted Rourke.

"What, he is busy, isn't he?" asked Penny.

Rourke thought about it for a second, then looked up at the King.

"May I respectfully request that we stay one night, sir?" he asked. "That would give us time to rest, resupply and be ready to travel by morning."

The King groaned at the thought of letting us stay for the night. But if what Rourke was suggesting is true, then...

"Very well. One night." he agreed reluctantly. "That is all."

"Well, thank you, Your Majesty." said Rourke.

"Will it also give us time to ask some questions?" asked Sherman.

"All in due time, Sherman." I said. "Now come along."

"Mmm. Your heart has softened, Kida." The King said to his daughter once both our groups have left the palace. "A thousand years ago, you would have slain them on sight."

"A thousand years ago, the streets were lit," replied Kida. "And our people did not have to scavenge for food at the edge of a crumbling city!"

"The people are content." assured the King.

"But they don't know any better!" said Kida. "We were once a great people. Now we live in ruins. The kings of our past would weep if they could see how far we have fallen."

"Kida."

"If these outsiders can unlock the secrets of our past," Kida went on. "Perhaps we can save our furture."

"What they have to teach us," said the King. "We have already learned."

"Our way of life is dying." reminded Kida.

"Our way of life is preserved." assured the King as he took his daughter's hands in his own. "Kida, when you take the throne, you will understand."

* * *

"So, how'd it go?" asked Dr. Sweet once Milo's group and mine were outside the palace.

"Well, the King and his daughter don't exactly see eye to eye." explained Milo. "She seems to like us OK, but the King...I don't know, I think he's hiding somethin'."

"Well, if he's hiding something, I want to know what it is." said Rourke.

Already, Miss Sinclair came up with an idea. "Someone needs to talk to that girl."

"I will go!" said Moliere.

"Someone with good people skills." added Vinny.

"I will do it!"

"Someone who won't scare her away." added Dr. Sweet.

"I volunteer!"

"Someone who can speak the language." added Mrs. Packard

For the good of the mission, I will go!"

"I volunteer myself, Sherman, Penny and Milo to speak with the Atlantean princess." I announced to the crew.

"Looks like we have a four-way tie." commented Rourke.

Upon hearing this, Moliere burst into tears.

"Looks like you've got competition there, eh, Penny?" teased Audrey.

Penny glanced coldly at her.


	12. Questioning the Princess

"But, Mr. Peabody, I don't have to talk to a princess." said Sherman as my group and Milo returned to the palace.

"Of course you do, Sherman. It's so simple." I replied. "You ask her some of your questions and she'll ask you some of her questions. Besides, it'll give you all the information you'll need for your report."

"Looks like a win-win." said Penny.

"All right, let's do this." said Milo.

Before we could walk up to the door, Kida snuck up behind us, restraining Milo and putting her hand on his mouth.

"I have some questions for you," she said. "And you are not leaving this city until they are answered."

"Yeah, well, I...OK!" Milo said before Kida covered his mouth again.

"Come with me." she said to us.

* * *

We followed Kida through a secret passageway that led us to a immense jungle.

"It's like a greenhouse." commented Sherman.

"Oh, there is so much to ask about your world." Kida said to Milo. "You and your friends are scholars, are you not?"

"More like archaeologists, Your Highness." I said.

"Well, judging from your diminished physique and large foreheads, you are suited for nothing else." said Kida. "What is your country of origin? When did the flood waters recede? How did you..."

"Wait a minute. My friends and I got a few questions for you." said Milo. "So, let's do this, OK? You ask one, then I'll ask one then you, then me, then...well, you get it."

"Well, then, what is _your_ first question?" asked Kida.

"Well, OK," said Milo. "Uh, how did you get here? Well, I mean, not you personally, but your... your culture.I mean, how did all of this end up down here?"

"Legend says that the gods became jealous of Atlantis." explained Kida. "They sent a great cataclysm and banished us here. All I can remember is the sky going dark and people shouting and running. Then, a bright light, like a star floating above the city. My father said it called my mother to it. I never saw her again."

"I'm sorry." said Milo. "If it...if it's any consolation...I-I know how you feel, because I lost my..."

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute! Whoa, back up!" interrupted Penny. "Wh...what...what are you telling us, that you remember because you were there?"

"No, that...that's impossible, because, I mean, that would make you...you know, eighty-five...eighty-eight hundred years old." guessed Milo.

"Yes." answered Kida.

"Wow!" exlcaimed Sherman.

"Wow indeed." I concurred.

"Hey, uh, pfft! Lookin' good." said Milo. "Just, uh, ahem...You got another question for me?"

"Yes. How is it you found your way to this place?" asked Kida.

"Well, I'll tell you, it wasn't easy." said Milo as he pulled out the _Shepard's Journal_ from his satchel. "If it weren't for this book, we never would have made it."

Kids quickly grabbed the journal and looked through the pages as Milo went on, "OK, second question. Legend has it that your people possessed a power source of some kind that enabled them..."

"You mean you can understand this?" interrupted Kida.

"Yes, I'm a linguist. That's what I do, that's my job" said Milo. "Now, uh, getting back to my question..."

"This, right here, you can read this?" Kida said, holding the _Shepard's Jorunal_ in front of Milo, who replied. "Yes, yes, I can read Atlantean, just like you."

Kida looked at the journal again.

"You can't, can you?" guessed Milo.

"No one can." explained Kida. "Such knowledge has been lost to us since the time of the Mehbelmok."

"The Meh-what?" said Sherman.

"The Great Flood." I said.

"Oh."

"Show me." Kida said to Milo, who proceeded to read in Atlantean.

"Follow the narrow passage for another league. There, you will find the fifth marker." Kida translated.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's it." said Milo. "How was my accent?"

"Boorish, provincial and you speak it through your nose." said Kida.

"Yeah, gotta work on that." said Milo.

"Here, let me show you something." said Kida as she removed a tarp, revealing what appears to be a vehicle in the shape of a fish.

"Wow." exclaimed Penny. "It looks like a motorcycle."

"Yes," I concurred upon examing the vehicle. "So it does."

"No matter what I try, it will not respond." explained Kida. "Perhaps if..."

"Way ahead of you." said Milo. "OK, let's see what we got here."

He looked at the instructions that were translated in Atlantean.

"OK. 'Place crystal into slot.'"

"Yes, yes, I have done that!" said Kida.

"'Gently place your hand on the inscription pad.'"

"Yes!"

"OK, did you turn the crystal one-quarter turn back?"

"Yes. Yes!"

"While your hand was on the inscription pad?"

"Ye...No."

"Ah, well, see, there's your problem right there." concluded Milo. "That's an easy thing to miss. You know, you deserve credit for even...even gettin' this far."

The rest of us stared at him blankly.

"OK, uh, give it a try."

Kida removed her necklace, placed her crystal on the slot and turn it one-quarted turn back, with her hand on the inscription pad.

This time, it worked. The vehicle magically came to life and started floating.

"A flying motorcycle. Now I've seen everything." exclaimed Penny.

"Oh, th...this is great!" said Milo. "With this thing, I could see the whole city in no time at all."

"Can I go first?" asked Sherman as he reached for the inscription pad.

Of course, I tried to stop him. "Sherman, no!"

But it was too late. The vehicle flew all around the jungle and then crashed into the wall.

"This is precisely why I never let drive you the WABAC." I reminded Sherman, who just said. "Oops."


	13. Spending a Day in the City

"By the way, we were never properly introduced." said Milo as we climbed up a high statue. "My name's Milo. Down below are Peabody, Sherman and Penny."

"Hey!" I called up.

"My name is Kidagakash." said Kida.

Milo tried to recall her name. "K-K-Kidamaschnaga. "Uh, hey, you got a nickname?"

"Kida."

"OK. Kida." said Milo. "I can remember that."

"Wow." said Penny. "This is even better than the first view."

Indeed it was. From right where we're standing, we could see the entire city of Atlantis from a different angle.

Kida noticed a tear trickling down Milo's cheek.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just...got something in my eye." said Milo. "You know, my grandpa used to tell me stories about this place as far back as I can remember. I just wish he could be standing here with me."

"At least you have us." said Sherman, giving Milo a pat on the back.

* * *

Later, Kida took us all over the city as she asked me, "Tell me about yourself, Mr. Peabody. Where do you and your little ones come from?"

"Well, first off, Penny is hardly my daughter." I answered. "And we reside in New York City."

"They came here in a time machine called the WABAC." explained Milo.

"So where have you gone in this WABAC?" asked Kida.

"Not 'where,' Kida." said Sherman. "'When.'"

"Very well, Sherman. When?"

"Oh, 1621, 1607, 1519, 1492..."

"You sure do travel a lot, do you, Mr. Peabody?" asked Milo.

"Well, when I adopted Sherman, I vowed to be the best father I could be." I explained. "To prepare him for all the wonders of the world, present and past."

"Whom have you met during your travels, Mr. Peabody?" asked Kida.

"Well, Your Highness, we've met Leonardo Da Vinci, William Shakespeare, Christopher Columbus, Cleopatra, Ludwig von Beethoven..."

* * *

"Wow, look at all those tattoos." said Audrey as she and Cookie noticed a tattoo parlor in the marketplace.

"Shoot. That ain't nothin'." scoffed Cookie as he lifted up his shirt. "Look here what I got. All 38 United States. Watch me make Rhode Island dance. Come on, baby. Dance. Dance! There you go."

* * *

We stopped by one of the houses of the Atlantean residents for dinner.

Once seated, Sherman felt uneasy upon seeing the different kinds of food.

"Mr. Peabody, do we really have to try these?" he asked.

"When in Atlantis, Sherman," I said. "Do what the Atlanteans do."

So Sherman took a bite, and...

"Mmm. It's not bad." he said. "Tastes like Chinese food."

Penny tried some of the Atlantean food as well.

"It really does." she agreed.

"Do you think we can take all this to go, Mr. Peabody?" asked Sherman.

I chuckled a little bit. "That won't be neccessary, Sherman."

* * *

Little did we realize that our stay at Atlantis was about to be more than pleasant.


	14. Swimming for Answers

The night was clear as Kida led us to another part of the city.

"You know, Kida, the most we ever hoped to find was some crumbling buildings. Maybe some broken pottery." said Milo as he caught one of the fireflies fluttering around. "Instead, we find a living, thriving society. Heh heh. These guys are kinda cute when they're not, you know...formed into a fiery column of death."

"We're not thriving." said Kida. "True, our people live...but our culture is dying. We are like a stone the ocean beats against. With each passing year, a little more of us is worn away."

"Is there something we can do?" asked Sherman.

"I brought you here because I need your help." said Kida. "There is a mural here with writing all around the pictures."

"Well, let's take a look-see, shall we?" I said, turning my attention to a fallen pillar.

Milo did the same as he said, "OK, let me see. Let's start with this column right here. Uh, well, this, uh..."

"Oh, oh my." I said, trying to keep Sherman and Penny from what was happening right now.

Milo, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes off of Kida as she removed her skirt. "Kida? Uh, heh, what are you doin'?"

"You do know how to swim, right?" she asked.

"Oh, I swim pretty girl." stuttered Milo. "Pr-pretty good! Pretty good. Sw... Good, swim good. I swim pretty good."

"Good." said Kida. "Because it's a fair distance to where we're going."

"Hey, you are talkin' to the belly flop champ at Camp Runamuck." said Milo, who then turned to me. "Hey, Mr. Peabody. You comin'?"

"No, no, you go on ahead." I said. "We'll just stay here and look over what we have so far."

Milo turned to Kida. "Well, let's go."

He then dove into the water, but then rose up.

"Why don't you lead the way," he said to Kida. "Because I have no idea where we're going."

So she did.

* * *

Kida and Milo swam further and further through more ruins of the city when they reached an air pocket.

"Are you all right?" asked Kida.

"Well, I didn't drown, so..." Milo began before Kida said. "Good. Follow me!"

They swam back down and spotted one of the murals with a depiction of a star. Milo looked through it and pointed up to the surface where he and Kida could talk.

"This is amazing! A complete history of Atlantis!" he said. "It's just like Plato described. Well, he was off on a few details, but..."

"The light I saw." interrupted Kida. "The star in the middle of the city. What does the writing say about that?"

"I don't know yet." replied Milo. "But we're gonna find out Come on."

They dove further where they another mural, which told the entire history of Atlantis and how the Atlanteans wore the crystals around their necks.

Milo pointed up to the surface again so he could describe what he had seen.

"The Heart of Atlantis!"

"What?"

"It's the Heart of Atlantis! That's what the Shepherd w-was talking about. It wasn't a star, it was...it was some kind of crystal...uh, like these!" said Milo as he held up Kida's crystal. "Don't you get it? The power source I've been looking for...the bright light you remember...they're the same thing!-

"How can that be?" asked Kida.

It 's what's keeping all these things...you, all of Atlantis alive." explained Milo.

"Then, where is it now?"

"I don't know, I don't know. You'd think something this important would have been in the Journal, but...unless...the missing page."


	15. Finding the Heart of Atlantis

Meanwhile, we were still looking over our notes.

"I can't believe we got all this information in one night." said Penny.

"We're totally gonna get an A+ for sure." agreed Sherman.

"The rest is yet to come, Sherman." I said.

At that moment, Milo and Kida emerged from the water, exhausted from swimming.

"Did you find anything?" asked Penny.

"Hand me the _Journal_ , quick!" gasped Milo.

Penny pulled out the _Journal_ out of the satchel and handed it to Milo, who frantically flipped through each page.

"What are you looking for?" asked Sherman.

"I knew the _Shepard's Journal_ was missing a page." said Milo. "I just know it."

"Perhaps I can be of some help." said a voice. "Or should I say, the other way around."

We all turned to see Rourke leaning against a wall.

"Commander!" I said, chuckling a little bit. "What a surprise seeing you here."

However, I stopped short upon seeing the cold smile on Rourke's face.

"Oh. Oh, dear." I realized.

Milo took notice of it as well.

"I'm such an idiot." he said. "This is just another treasure hunt for you. You're after the Crystal."

"Oh, you mean this?" said Rourke as he held up a piece of paper, which was actually a page torn from the _Shepard's Journal._

We all gasped upon seeing it.

"Why does he having the missing page?" whispered Sherman.

"Isn't it obvious, Sherman?" I whispered back. "Rourke is leading an army of mercenaries to find the Heart of Atlantis. Once he does so, he plans to sell it and make a fortune."

"Mercenaries?" said Rourke. "I prefer the term 'adventure capitalists.'"

"Adventure capitalists?" repeated Penny.

"Well, yeah." replied Rourke as he put his arm around Milo. "Besides, your friend's the one who got us here. He led us right to the treasure chest."

"You don't know what you're tampering with, Rourke!" shouted Milo, pushing away Rourke, who sneered. "What's to know? It's big. It's shiny. It's gonna make us all rich. All we have to do now is find it."

I knew we had to find a way to stall Rourke and fast. So I cleared my throat and said. "Well, for all we know, Commander, it could be here or here or here or here or here."

With a wave of my paw and a quick snap of my fingers, Rourke immediately fell into a trance, which gave me the opportunity to grab the missing page out of his hand.

"That'll buy us some time."

"What trickery is this?" asked Kida.

"I learned that trick from a swami at the Begawan Giri in Ubud, Bali." I said quickly. "Let's go!"

* * *

We hurried to the palace as fast as we could.

Once inside, Kida ran towards to the King. "Father!"

"What is it, dear daughter?" he asked.

"We are so sorry to barge in like this, Your Majesty." I said. "But you and your people are in terrible danger."

"What terrible danger are you referring to?" asked the King.

At that moment, we could hear Miss Sinclair's voice from inside the palace. "Spread out! Search everywhere!"

"How about that?" asked Penny.

I turned to the guards. "Quick, guard the door from the inside!"

Then I turned to the King. "Your Majesty, I never thought I'd ask you this, but you have to hide us where the Heart of Atlantis is located."

The King just glared at us. "I knew I did not trust you the moment we met. Why should I help you now?"

"Because my friends and I are not like our commander." explained Milo.

For a moment, the King said nothing.

Just then, there was a loud knock outside the palace door.

"Come out of there, Thatch!" shouted Miss Sinclair. "We know you're in there!"

Penny looked up at the King. "Your Majesty, just give us one chance. Please."

The King still said nothing, but upon seeing the sad expression on Penny's face, he reluctantly sighed. "Take the aquavator."

"The aqua-what?" said Sherman.

"No more time for questions, Sherman." I said. "We must hurry!"

* * *

The aquavator, which was an underwater elevator, took us deep into the Crystal Chamber where the Heart of Atlantis was stored.

"We should be safe in here for now." I said.

We looked up to see the Heart of Atlantis surrounded by huge misshapen stones.

Kida gasped. "The kings of our past."

Sherman turned to me. "What does she mean by-"

"Well, you see, Sherman," I said. "Each of these stones represent a former king of Atlantis. Once one dies, his likeness is carved into a stone and placed among the others to protect the Heart of Atlantis. Uh, you might want to write all this down."

"Oh, yeah, sure." said Sherman as he wrote down what we discussed.

Penny, on the other hand, picked up a pebble and deciding to do some stone skipping. But as she did so, the Heart of Atlantis turned red, as it has sensed danger.

"Penny, what did you do?" I asked.

"Nothing, I was just skipping a stone, and the lights turned red." said Penny.

"What does that mean?" asked Sherman.

"Well, there's a giant crystal hovering 150 feet above our heads over a bottomless pit of water." explained Milo. "Doesn't that surprise you?"

"The only thing that surprised me is how the lights went from blue to red." said Penny. "That can't be normal for a disco ball."

That's when she noticed Kida walking towards the water, entranced by the Heart of Atlantis.

"And why is Kida acting like a zombie?" she added.

"All it says here is that the Crystal is alive somehow." explained Milo as he looked at the _Shepard's Journal._ "It...I don't know how to explain it. It's their deity, it's their power source."

"So, it comes to life whenever it senses danger?" asked Penny.

"Apparently." I said.

"Well, how was I suppose to know that?" said Penny.

"Maybe you would have," said Sherman. "If you were paying attention."

Penny became flabbergasted by his words. "Sherman, whose side are you on?"

Sherman began to stutter. "I...I...um..."

"All will be well, my friends." interrupted Kida, still in a trance from the Heart. "Be not afraid."

"What did she say?" Penny asked Milo, who replied. "I don't know. I...I didn't catch it."

Kida stepped into the water and continued to walk towards the center of the water, where the lights of the Crystal lined together and lifted the princess up into the air. Once inside the Heart of the Atlantis, the King Stones spun around her.

"Mr. Peabody, what's going on?" asked Sherman.

"It appears that the princess is merging with the Heart!" I said.

Once the King Stones ceased spinning, Kida had transformed into a crystallized statue.

We all watched in disbelief as she slowly floated down towards the water.

Sherman started to walk towards her, but I pulled my arm out, saying, "I wouldn't get too close if I were you, Sherman."

For a moment, Kida just stood there.

"Kida?" said Milo.

Suddenly, Kida's eyes flew open as she slowly walked towards us.

One by one, the King Stones crashed into the water, while Kida kept on walking, surrounded by a force field which protected her from the splashes.

"You know, even though she looks like a statue," said Penny. "She still looks beautiful as ever."

"Beautiful enough to makes us all rich!" said a familiar voice.

We all turned to see Rourke, along with Miss Sinclair and two of his men aboard the aquavator.

Sherman was surprised to see Rourke disentranced. "But...how did you..."

"Do you really think you can pull a fast one on old Lyle Tiberius Rourke, Peabody?" said Rourke.

Sherman and Penny turned to me.

"Yep, that's his full name." I said.

"You think it's some kind of a diamond, I thought it was some kind of a battery, but we're both wrong." Milo said to Rourke. "It's their life force. That crystal is the only thing keeping these people alive. You take that away, and they'll die!"

"Well, that changes everything." sneered Rourke. "Helga, what do you think?"

"Knowing that, I'd double the price." said Miss Sinclair as she pointed a Mauser C96 at us.

"I was thinking triple." said Rourke.

"Rourke, don't do this." pleaded Milo.

Rourke only scoffed. "Academics. You never want to get your hands dirty. Think about it; if you gave back every stolen artifact from a museum, you'd be left with an empty building. We're just providing a necessary service to the archeological community."

"Not interested." said Milo sternly.

"I got to admit, I'm disappointed." said Rourke. "You're an idealist, just like your grandfather. Do yourself a favor, Milo. Don't be like him. For once, do the smart thing."

"We are." said Penny. "Protecting Atlantis from you!"

Rourke glanced coldly at Penny.

"I really hate it when negotiations go sour."

With a snap of fingers, Rourke's men restrained us as he and Miss Sinclair guided the crystallized Kida to the aquavator.

"Rourke, for the last time, you've got to listen to me." Milo pleaded once more. "You don't have the slightest idea what this power is capable of."

"True, but I can think of a few countries who'd pay anything to find out." said Miss Sinclair, still pointing her handgun at us. "So if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of our way. Otherwise, you'll get blasted!"

Penny quivered in fear upon seeing the Mauser C96 in front of her.

"Let them come, Lieutenant." said Rourke. "I like to see the look on their little faces when we load up their precious girlfriend."

"No!" whispered Milo.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I figured that this would be a much better scene than what was shown in the movie, in which Kida was taken prisoner and restrained by Helga after the swim scene, and where Rourke hits the King while trying to find the Heart of Atlantis.**

 **If you have some concerns about this chapter, let me know and I shall send you my answers ASAP.**


	16. Conscience Found

At the Atlantean arena, we watched helplessly, restrained by one of Rourke's soliders and Miss Sinclair, as the crew loaded the crystallized Kida into a pod.

"Let them go." ordered Rourke. "They're no use to us anymore."

The soliders and Miss Sinclair roughly releashed us and walked towards the waiting trucks.

"What's going to happen to us now, Mr. Peabody?" asked Sherman.

"I don't know, Sherman." I replied. "But I do know this; Audrey and her father will be able to open up a second garage. As for Vinny, he'll start a whole chain of flower shops that'll make his family proud."

"That's what it's all about, right? Money." said Milo.

"Get off your soapbox, kids." smirked Rourke. "You've read Darwin. It's called natural selection. We're just helping it along."

"Commander, we're ready!" Miss Sinclair called out to Rourke, who replied. "Yeah, give me a minute."

Then he said to himself. "I know I'm forgetting something. I got the cargo, the crystal, crew...Oh, yeah."

He then punched Milo in the face. As he fell, a framed portrait fell out of his satchel.

"Look at it this way, son." Rourke went on as he stepped on the portrait. "You were the man who discovered Atlantis and now you and your little friends are part of the exhibit."

Sherman tried to stop Rourke but Penny grabbed ahold of him, saying, "There's nothing we can do about it now, Sherman. I'm sorry."

Realizing that all of Atlantis was doomed, he began to sob silently as Penny tried to comfort him.

At the same time, Milo pulled out the portrait from the smashed frame. It was a photo of Milo as a child and his grandfather, Thaddeus Thatch. As he looked at it, he knew he had let his grandfather down.

Just when I thought all hope was lost, we heard a truck door kick open. It was Audrey. She had grown tired of Rourke's cruel nature since we came to Atlantis.

Without a word, she walked up to us, kneeled down and dried Sherman's tears with a tissue. Then she turned to the others.

Vinny walked away from the truck and helped Milo on his feet.

Moliere and Cookie just stood there and turned to Mrs. Packard, who was still smoking in the truck.

They then walked away to join us, but not before Mrs. Packard made up her mind.

"We're all gonna die." she said to herself as she hopped off the truck and walked over to where we were.

Rourke noticed what was going on and groaned. "Oh, you can't be serious."

"This is wrong, and you know it!" shouted Audrey.

"We're this close to our biggest payday ever," said Rourke. "And you pick now of all times to grow a conscience?"

"We've done a lot of things we're not proud of...robbing graves and plundering tombs, double parking." said Vinny. "But nobody got hurt. Well, maybe somebody got hurt but, nobody we know."

"Ah, if that's the way you want it, fine." said Rourke as he hopped on the truck. "More for me!"

Then he said to himself. "P.T. Barnum was right."

We all stood there as the trucks drove away from Atlantis, with the only life source the city had. Without the Heart of Atlantis, the city and the individual crystals around the Atlanteans' necks began to fade away.

"Mr. Peabody, we can't let him get away with this!" Sherman said as he began to charge after the trucks.

But I grabbed ahold of him. "Sherman, wait!"

Rourke had the bridge rigged with dynamite to prevent us from following him. One push from the plunger and the bridge was immediately destroyed.

"No!" shouted Milo.

We all ducked in cover as the explosions got closer then died down.

The remains of the bridge fell towards the lava.

"Now what are we gonna do?" asked Penny.

Just then, a voice called out from up at the palace. "Milo, you better get up here!"

It was Dr. Sweet.


	17. How to Save Atlantis

When we arrived at the palace, we saw that there was a hole in the front doors. Rourke had forced his way in to find the Heart of Atlantis. And to make matters worse, he also injured the King while trying to extract the information he needed.

Dr. Sweet was doing everything he can to help the King, who was, unfortunately, becoming more weak than ever.

"How is he, doctor?" I asked.

"Not good, I'm afraid." replied Dr. Sweet. "Internal bleeding. There's nothing more I can do."

"What a nightmare." said Penny.

"And I brought it here." added Milo.

"Ah, don't go beating yourself up." said Dr. Sweet. "He's been after that Crystal since Iceland."

Realization ran through Milo's head. "The Crystal. Sweet, that's it! These...these crystals...they have some sort of healing energy. I've...I've seen it work."

"No!" moaned the King, barely alive.

He looked all around the palace, but Kida was nowhere to be found.

"Where is my daughter?" he asked.

"Well, she...she..." stammered Milo before the King realized what has happened earlier. "She has been chosen...like her mother before her."

'What?" said Sherman.

"In times of danger, the crystal will choose a host...one of royal blood...to protect itself...and its people." expalined the King. "It will accept no other."

"W-W-Wait a minute. Choose?" said Milo. "So this thing is alive?"

"In a way." replied the King. "The Crystal thrives...on the collective emotions of all who came before us In return, it provides power, longevity, protection. As it grew, it developed a consciousness of its own."

He coughed softly as he went on. "In my arrogance, I sought to use it as a weapon of war, but it's power proved too great to control. It overwhelmed us...and led to our destruction."

"That explains why you hid it beneath the city..." I realized.

"To keep history from repeating." added Milo.

"And to prevent Kida from suffering the same fate...as my beloved wife." said the King.

"What do you mean?" asked Penny. "Wh...What's going to happen to Kida?"

"If she remains bonded to the crystal, she could be lost to it...forever." explained the King. "The love of my daughter is all I have left. My burden would have become hers when the time was right. But now, it falls to all of you."

He removed his crystal from around his neck and placed it in Milo's hand.

"Return the Crystal. Save Atlantis. Save my daughter."

Those were his final words, for within moments, the King gasped for breath one last time and quietly passed away.

The situation was extremely dire. With the King deceased and no heir to the throne, Atlantis will surely crumble into chaos. And it was all our fault.

Dr. Sweet placed his stethoscope back into his medical bag and turned to Milo. "So, what's it going to be?"

"Excuse me?" asked Milo.

"I followed you in, and I'll follow you out." said Dr. Sweet. "It's your decision."

"My decision?" repeated Milo. "Well, I think we've seen how effective my decisions have been. Let's recap. I lead a band of plundering vandals to the greatest archeological find in recorded history, thus enabling the kidnap and/or murder of the royal family. Not to mention personally delivering the most powerful force known to man into the hands of a mercenary nutcase who's probably goingto sell it to the Kaiser! Have I left anything out?!"

"Well, you did set the camp on fire and drop us down that big hole." reminded Penny.

"Thank you!" said Milo. "Thank you very much."

In defeat, he plopped down into an overturned pot

"Of course, it's been my experience, when you hit bottom, the only place left to go is up." said Dr. Sweet.

Milo sighed helplessly. "Who told you that?"

"A fella by the name of Thaddeus Thatch."

Milo looked at the King's Crystal and realized it was up to him to save the princess...and Atlantis. It's what his grandfather would've wanted.

Fueled with that determination, he walked out of the palace, past the five remaining members of the crew.

"What are you going?" asked Audrey.

"I'm going after Rourke."

"Milo, that's crazy!"

"I didn't say it was the smart thing...but it is the right thing."

* * *

We all followed Milo to another stone fish, which he had climbed onto.

"Milo, what do you think you are doing?" asked Audrey.

"Just follow my lead." said Milo as he placed the late King's Crystal into the slot, bringing the vehicle to life.

Already, Sherman was amazed, but once again, I held my arm out in front of him.

"Don't even think about it."

"It's simple." began Milo. "All you got to do..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up." interrupted Audrey, who had climbed on top of the stone fish. "We get it, OK?"

Milo tried to stop her. "No, no, wait!"

But it was too late. Audrey had placed her hand on the inscription pad, making the vehicle go in reverse.

The crash got the Atlanteans' attention.

"Gently." Milo reminded Audrey. "Gently."

"Hey, Milo. You got something sporty? You know, like a tuna?" Vinny called out.

"How is this done?" asked one of the warriors.

"All you got to do is use the crystal." explained Milo. "Kida showed us."

He then led us to another stone fish and told us to start of the vehicles. "Half-turn right, quarter-turn back. Keep your hand on the pad."

While everyone followed Milo's instructions, my group and I boarded the WABAC.

"Fasten your seatbelts, kids." I said. "It's gonna be a bumpy fight."

"All right, this is it!" Milo called out. "We're gonna to rescue the princess. We're gonna save Atlantis. Or we're gonna die trying. Now let's do it!"

So we sped off to stop Rourke as the Atlanteans cheered for our heroic attempts to save the city.


	18. Atlanteans vs Rourke

_BOOM!_

A cannon had just blown a hole at the top of the volcano shaft.

When the first rays of light appeared from the surface world, Rourke smiled evilly. "I love it when I win."

* * *

By that time, we had just flown inside the shaft.

"OK, here's the plan." Milo said to us. "We're going to come in low and fast and take them by surprise."

"Well, I've got news for you, Milo." said Audrey. "Rourke is never surprised, and he's got a lot of guns."

"Great. Well, do you have any suggestions?" asked Milo.

"Yeah!" replied Vinny. "Don't get shot!"

By the time we got there, the Gyro-Evac, a hot-air balloon had just been inflated, and Kida's pod was connected at the bottom.

As Rourke helped the balloon rise up with the pod, he saw the Atlantean armada charging in front of him.

"Attack!" I shouted from inside the WABAC.

"We've got company!" Rourke said to his men, who proceeded on firing at the armada, while the ruthless commander retreated to the Gyro-Evac.

"Take her up!" he ordered.

* * *

Meanwhile, several of Rourke's soliders boarded on Whitmore's Wings and took off after us, while the others kept on shooting.

"Jumping Crystals!" exclaimed Sherman. "I thought he only had guns."

"Well, Rourke's too hard to surprise, Sherman." I said.

One of the soldiers aimed a machine gun at us and started shooting.

While ducking for cover, Vinny accidentally placed his hand on the pad of his Martag.

A laser-like beam shot out of the vehicle, destroying two trucks and three of Rourke's soldiers.

Vinny was impressed with what he had done. "OK, now things are getting good."

"Vinny! Heads up!" Milo called out. "We can't let them reach the top of that shaft!"

Just then, one of Whitmore's Wings swooped in out of nowhere and charged at the WABAC.

"Oh, dear." I said to myself as I turned the WABAC around, while the plane chasing us was destroyed by a passing Martag.

"Peabody, Sherman!" Millo called out. "You and Vinny are gonna be decoys. Audrey, Sweet, fly up underneath that thing and cut her loose."

"We're on it!" said Dr. Sweet, giving Milo a thumbs up.

We all sped off towards the Gyro-Evac, but Rourke already saw us coming. "Lieutenant!"

Miss Sinclair aimed her Mauser C96 at us and started shooting, but we all flew in different directions to avoid getting hit while Audrey tried to use Dr. Sweet's saw to break free Kida's pod from the Gyro-Evac.

"I though you said this thing could cut through a femur in 28 seconds!" she complained.

"Less talk, more saw!" said Dr. Sweet.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rourke was trying to shoot Milo with a machine gun aboard the Gyro-Evac, until a laser beam blasted the gun away.

Rourke turned to the source of the blast, which was actually me inside the WABAC.

"Hey!" I called out.

Rourke then looked to see Dr. Sweet and Audrey still trying to saw through the chains clinging onto Kida's pod.

"Looks like somebody's working overtime." he said to Miss Sinclair, who then proceeded to release the torpedoes at Dr. Sweet and Audrey, forcing them to retreat.

* * *

"All right, Milo, this is it." Milo said to himself as he got close to the top of the Gyro-Evac. "Any last words? Yeah. I really wish I had a better idea than this!"

He then flew towards the balloon and leapt out of his Aktirak just as it crashed into one of the nettings.

"We're losing altitude!" shouted Rourke. "Lighten the load!"

Miss Sinclair tried throwing out a barrell.

"That's it, unless someone wants to jump."

That gave Rourke an idea.

"Ladies first." he said as he grabbed Miss Sinclair and pushed her overboard.

But Miss Sinclair grabbed onto the railings and swung herself back up, hitting Rourke in the face with her foot.

"You said we were in this together!" she snarled. "You promised me a percentage!"

Before Miss Sinclair could deliver another blow on the face, Rourke caught ahold of her boot.

"Next time, get it in writing!" he said as he threw his former lieutenant out of the Gyro-Evac.

 _"ROURKE!"_ shouted Miss Sinclair as she fell to her presumed death.

"Nothing personal!" Rourke called out, but not before receving a surprise kick in the face by Milo.

Both men tumbled off the top deck and landed on the lower deck.

"Well, I have to hand it to you." sneered Rourke. "You're a bigger pain in the neck than I would have ever thought possible."

Milo tried to punch Rourke in the face, but the commander retaliated by grabbing his hand, using it to punch him in the face and hit him at the stomach with his foot, sending him crashing into the railings and out of the Gyro-Evac.

But Milo hung onto the railing as Rourke went on. "I consider myself an even-tempered man. It takes a lot to get under my skin...but congratulations. You just won the solid-gold kewpie doll."

* * *

Back on the ground, Miss Sinclair used the last of her strength to pull out her flare gun from her pocket and aim it at the Gyro-Evac.

"Nothing personal." she echoed, pulling the trigger.

* * *

The flare flew up and tore into the Gyro-Evac, setting it on fire.

Unaware of what was happening, Rourke grabbed an axe and charged after Milo, who dodged every swing while trying to get to Kida's pod.

"Tired, Mr. Thatch?" taunted Rourke as he swung his axe at Milo, shattering the window to the pod instead. "Aw, that's a darn shame...'cause I'm just getting warmed up!"

Thinking fast, Milo picked up a glowing crystal shard just before Rourke grabbed him by the neck.

But Rourke could finish the job, however, Milo slashed his arm with the shard, then broke free as the commander grimaced in pain.

Just then, Rourke's arm began to twitch. The cut Milo made grew bigger and took over Rourke's entire body.

Milo looked down to see Rourke, having been turned into a monstrous crystal-like statue.

He breathed in a sigh of relief. "Thank heaven!"

Just then, the crystallized Rourke sprang back to life and climbed up to where Milo is, determined to kill him.

Realizing he was getting too close to the swing blades, Milo swung himself out of the way. But Rourke was not so lucky for he shattered into tiny crystals upon touching the blades.

The chains containing Kida's pod broke loose, sending it plummenting to the ground and Milo with it.

"Milo!" exclaimed Penny once the WABAC landed. "Are you okay?"

There was no time for that for the flaming Gyro-Evac was hurtling towards us.

"Get back!" I shouted. "Incoming!"

Milo quickly pushed Kida's pod out of the way just as the Gyro-Evac crashed into the ground.

Rourke and his treacherous army were no more. But now we have another situation to deal with for at that moment, the ground started to shake.

"The volcano." gasped Moliere. "She awakes!"

"Hey, I had nothing to do with it." said Vinny before realizing he was holding a lit stick of dynamite.

"Let's get out of here!" shouted Sherman.

"No, wait. We've got to get her back or the whole city will die!" said Milo.

"And if we don't get out of here, we'll die." reminded Audrey.

"It's the only way to reverse this." replied Milo. "Just do it!"

He and Audrey hooked up Kida's pod with a chain and attached said chain to the Martag. But as they try to fly away, the chain's hook broke loose.

Milo knew he had to go back for Kida. He lowered himself down, ran towards the pod and wrapped it with the chain.

"Go!" he shouted.

So we sped out the shaft as fast we could, outrunning the fiery lava back to Atlantis.


	19. Atlantis Restored

Once we got back to Atlantis, we gently placed Kida's pod in the center of the city plaza.

An Atlantean handed Milo his spear, which he used to pry Kida out of the pod.

"The fissure." panicked Moliere as he saw what was happening. "It is about to eject its pyroclastic fury!"

"Milo, Mole says the wall's gonna blow!" Dr. Sweet called out to Milo, who was having trouble trying to open the pod, which broke loose by itself.

Once free, Kida used the Crystal's magic to make the city glow with the life energy.

The King Stones, aglow once more by the princess's return, began to pop out of the ground and rose up to the air. Kida floated up with them as well.

Once again, the King Stones spun around her, faster and more faster as light beams shot at the Stone Giants that lay beneath Atlantis. These massive guardians rose up like people after emerging from a long slumber.

Upon seeing this, Mrs. Packard and Penny took a quick picture as the Stone Giants slowly walked to the edge of the circular waterfall.

As the lava finally spewed up from the fissures, the Stone Giants all clapped their hands, creating a massive dome of energy to protect the city, just before a huge wave of lava came and covered up the dome.

Instantly, the lava cooled for a moment. Then, a bright blue light shined its way through the hardened lava, which began to crumble. As it did, one of the many large stones broke through the dome, creating numerous waterfalls in its wake.

* * *

We all looked up to the sky to see Kida, restored to her human form, floating down towards the city. Milo hurried over to the center of the plaza and caught her in his arms.

Kida fluttered her eyes open and looked up. "Milo?"

Milo smiled at her. Kida smiled back. Then she noticed something in the palm of her hand. It was a bracelet that her mother had taken before merging with the Crystal when she was a child.

Kida then looked back at Milo and wrapped her arms around him.

They then turned to see Atlantis more beautiful than ever. We all marveled at the view ourselves as Kida and Milo held hands.

Not only did they save Atlantis, but they also found each other.


	20. Saying Goodbye to Milo

After spending a few days in Atlantis, it was time to go home.

We all gathered together as Kida placed individual crystals around our necks.

"Atlantis will honor your names forever." she said. "I only wish there was more we could do for you."

"Uh, you know, thanks anyway, but, uh...I think we're good."' said Vinny, looking back at the Atlanteans loading some treasure into a narwhal-shaped airplane.

"Well, I hope you've found what you've been looking for, Mr. Thatch." I said, extending my paw.

"You and me both, Mr. Peabody." replied Milo as we shook hands.

"We're really gonna miss you, Milo." said Penny as she and Sherman hugged Milo tightly.

"I'll miss you guys too."

Vinny walked up to Milo.

"You know, I'm gonna reopen the flower shop and I'm gonna think of you guys every single day...Monday through Friday, nine to five, Saturday till two." he said. "Sunday...I'm going to take Sunday off probably, and...maybe I'll go in for a couple of hours, you know, but...August...I'm going to take August."

Then Cookie walked up to Milo.

"I ain't so good at speechifyin'...but I wanted you to have this. It's the bacon grease from the whole trip."

Milo felt touched, although a little bit disgusted with his goodbye present. "Cookie, I..."

Cookie just started bawling as he walked back to the group as Audrey gave Milo a surprise kiss on the cheek.

"Ah-ah, two for flincing." she said, puncing Milo in the elbow. "See you, Milo."

"Hey, Milo!" Moliere called out, rising out of the dirt.

Milo didn't know what to say, so he just patted Moliere on the head. "Good-bye, Mole."

"Are you sure you want to stay?" asked Dr. Sweet. "There's a hero's welcome waiting for the man who discovered Atlantis."

"Ah, I don't think the world needs another hero." replied Milo. "Besides, I hear there's an opening down here for an expert in gibberish."

"You take good care of yourself, Milo Thatch."

"Yeah. You, too, Sweet."

Dr. Sweet scooped Milo up and sqeeuzed him so tightly Milo could hear his bones crack.

"Sweet, uh, before you go, could you..."

"No problem." said Dr. Sweet as he rocked Milo's neck back and forth one last time.

"Ah. Oh. Thanks."

Dr. Sweet chuckled. "Oh, you're getting a bill."

"Can we go home now?" asked Mrs. Packard.

"Come on, y'all." said Dr. Sweet. "Let's get one last shot in front of the fish."

We all sat in front of the plane while one of the Atlantean guards stood behind Mrs. Packard's camera.

"Say 'Gochk.'"

"Gochk!"


	21. Mr Peabody's Conclusion

Shortly afterwards, the remaining six members of the crew returned to Mr. Whitmore's mansion, where they all agreed to keep Atlantis a secret.

* * *

Back in present day New York City, I suggested Sherman and Penny do the same.

"Does this mean we can't hand in our report?" asked Sherman.

"I believe it'd be wiser not to." I replied. "Don't want you to become a laughingstock in front of the whole school. Don't you agree?"

Sherman sighed. "If you say so, Mr. Peabody."

"But how are we going to explain all this to the teacher?" asked Penny.

"Well, even if your teacher or your classmates don't believe you," I said, pulling out my crystal. "There will always be a Heart of Atlantis inside us all."

Sherman and Penny smiled and took out their crystals, which we all clinked together.

* * *

As for Milo, he became the new king of Atlantis.

Together, with his lovely queen, Kida by his side, they watched as a new King Stone, in the form of Kida's father, floated up to the sky to join the other stones to protect the Heart of Atlantis.

 _ **The End**_


End file.
